Woodland recovers

IT WAS A long two weeks for the dogs while Woodland Cemetery recovered from the massive storm earlier this month. The beautiful grounds were decimated by the high winds, with tons of trees knocked down or suffering major damage.

And this is AFTER a lot of cleanup.

Angus and Tucker were bummed while the cemetery was closed. We snuck in the south side a couple of times but couldn't even walk down to the corner past the mausoleum because trees blocked the path.

Woodland reopened earlier this week. Thank you to Keith and hard-working staff for getting the area cleaned up enough to walk and drive through. Angus and Tucker are overjoyed.

Now comes the hard part - assessing the damage to the stones and grave markers. Many were knocked down and/or broken by trees. It's up to the families to maintain the markers, but many have passed on and nobody is around anymore to look after the plots.

The cemetery has worked with local monument companies to fix many stones in recent years. Now there's a lot more to do.

At the back by the bluff, the Civil War monument was sheared off. It won't be cheap to fix it, but plans are underway to tackle the project. This is one of Quincy's most treasured pieces of history, installed the year after the Civil War ended. There are more pressing issues in the wake of the storm, but I certainly hope Quincy will help in restoring the monument.

It's 95 in the shade, but the dogs and I are back into our walking routine, and grateful.